The Crust I Trust

TO ME, A PIE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS CRUST. And the tenderest, flakiest, buttery-est crust in the world is surely Pate Brisee Fine – the traditional French pastry dough for pies, quiches, and tarts. In other words, it’s a crust you can trust. I make it this way:

Important notes:
Pastry dough made with all-purpose flour alone tends to be tough. The small addition of cake flour, however, insures a light, tender crust.

Work rapidly; your pastry effort will fail if the butter becomes too soft. It is tiny pieces of butter suspended in the flour that makes the pastry flaky.

To start, cut the butter lengthwise in fourths; dice the fourths into 1/2 inch cubes. Measure the 2 kinds of flour, pour them onto a piece of wax paper, and sprinkle the salt on top.

Pour all the flour, the butter and the optional salt into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse on and off 10 times just to break up the butter. Then turn the machine on, add the shortening and 1/2 cup of water, and immediately stop processing.

Remove the lid of your processor, and withdraw a small amount of dough. If it holds together when gently pressed in your palm, as above, processing is complete. If it falls apart, add a few droplets of water, and pulse again for 5 or 6 turns.

Empty contents onto a cloth lined board, and roughly shape the dough into a disk. Don’t worry if the dough seems dry — just push it together as best you can.

Finally, rip small segments from the disk you just formed, and smear them across a piece of wax paper, a marble or tempered glass cutting board, or some other non-stick surface. Smearing the dough — a tip I learned from watching Julia Child — insures that all particles are thoroughly blended.

Reshape the dough (which by now should be more malleable) into a disk, and insert it into a plastic bag. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using. Refrigerated, this pastry dough will keep for about 3 days before the flour turns gray. Frozen, it will keep perfectly well for months.

Do you have your own special recipe for pastry dough? Care to share it here?

Comments

I have never used butter in my crust, only butter flavored Crisco, but of course, I am sure butter would be SO much better!! I have not tried the smearing thing either. I have found that using the absolute least amount of water is best, only enough to barely hold it together enough to pat into a ball, then chill, then roll with a soft touch. The dough should be handled as little as possible. And stay away from any recipe that uses oil instead of shortening, awful, probably what is used in the store bought crusts Oh and I don't have a food processor, I just cut in the shortening with a fork till the shortening is in tiny pieces, although a hand pastry blender would be nice to have and take a little less time.

Terry – You are so right…the least amount of moisture and the least amount of “working” the dough is the secret to a successful pastry crust. Good for you for using a fork to mix your dough. I'd be lost without my FP!

Kevin Lee Jacobs

Kevin is an award-winning food, garden and lifestyle guru who lives in New York's Hudson Valley. His recipes have appeared in dozens of newspapers. He has contributed countless gardening articles to African Violet Magazine, Berkshire Home Style Magazine, and Garden Design Magazine.